I'm Not The Only Thing In Ruins
by NerdieMcCool
Summary: It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit... I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand, I'm never changing who I am. ***My first Adventure Time story, and I am ready for all that's going to come. Please R&R ***
1. All is lost

**I want to start off by saying that this is my first Fanfic, and I want to know any ways I can make future Fics better! I also love feedback, so a quick review about pros and cons would be excellent :)**

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**-_ R&R! _-**

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**Simon's Wonder Chapter 1**

**I don't own _the characters_**

**or _Adventure Time_**

**But I do own _this story_**!

_[ P.S. I suggest you listen to a love song or some emotional music while reading this. It makes it 120% better ]_

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I put the car in park, excited to reveal to my fiance what I'd just bought from a Northen dockworker in Scandinavia. It was extraordinary! I'm not really the one to believe in supernatural things, I'm not that kind of person... but this artifact caught my eye. I guess I should tell you who I am. My name is Simon Petrikov, and I'm studying to be an aniquarian of ancient artifacts

"Hello my princess? I'm home!" I called. Betty greeting my by leaping into my arms.

"Hello, Simon!" she said happily. Oh, how I love her! I remember when we first started dating, we would snuggle by the fire... I remember kissing her on the cheek after bringing her home. But the best memory is when I proposed.

_"Betty, will you be my princess?" I asked, holding up a diamond ring._

_"Yes! Yes!" she cried, and I got up to hug her. I spun her around, and she laughed and cried happily into my shoulder._

It was the best day of my life. Just hearing those words, knowing that she was so sure of me was comforting. Love is amazing.

I put down my case and opened it up, excited. I held up the crown. It was made of pure gold, finely encrusted with small rubies and sapphires. In the front was a great big ruby, probably worth a few thousand dollars, but I wasn't going to sell this beauty.

She looked in awe at it. I thought for a moment. Maybe I could make her laugh, and pretend I was Mayor of 'BettyTown'!

I jokingly placed it atop my head, and she giggled a little.

Out of nowhere, I saw a great bright light, and I was not in the room anymore. I was in a room made of ice, and there was a penguin standing front of me. I looked around. This place gave me the chills! The penguin let out a quack. I walked over to the mirror, and stumbled back. What!

I was wearing a dark blue cloak, and I had blue skin. My nose was long and pointy like an icicle, and I had a big white beard. The penguin let out another quack, and waddled over to stand beside me. I gasped as another vision appeard, I was standing in front of a ruined city. I clung on for life, I had so many flesh-wounds. It was like a bomb had just blew up in front of me eyes! I tried to fight the visions, but they came as fast as they went. Switching scenes, everything was blurred. I felt a huge jolt of lonliness in each one. I shouted at them, fought with them, until I realized it wasn't real it was the crown!

I quickly took it off, and saw my fiance in front of me, looking at me in such contempt. What had I said? What had I done when I wore the crown?

"I never want to see you again."

She ran upstairs and came back down with a suitcase, giving me a last glance of fury before bolting out the door.

What had happened?

* * *

It's been three months, and since then I now see the visions always, whether or not I wear the crown. They tell me the secrets, the secrets of the ice and snow, that the power of the crown will save me with it's frost. I don't yet know what this means.

I am frightened, though. My skin has begun to turn blue, and my body temperature is lowering at a supernatural rate, to what is now about thirty degrees celsius. I don't know when it will end... I'm really scared.

I've noticed that around the town, army men and women have been in the streets, travelling through my city. Must be some military thing. I heard on the news yesterday that they were building some sort of weapon, a weapon that would make them certain to win a war that we've been having between some countries. But what I can tell between the visions, is that they're carrying nuclear and toxic objects aswell.

Plutonium is the only object I recognized, but this just adds to my fear. What's the army up to?

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**Did you like it? Next chapter will be up soon!**


	2. A Second Chance

**Simon's Wonder Chapter 2**

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I know my mind is changing, but I'm already to far gone to know what to do. I just want people to know that if I do things... if I do things that hurt anyone, please, please, forgive me! Just watch over me until I can find this labryinth in my brain and regain my sanity! And then, maybe Betty my princess, maybe you will love me again. Please love me again, Bet-

My thoughts are inturrupted by a rattling noise, followed by an enormous explosion.

Then a small line of really brown water comes rolling toward me. That's weird. But I reckon it must be some strange full-moon high tide. I go upstairs so I don't get wet.

There is a quiet rumble to it, like those white-noise generators. The water is getting higher and higher, and then it destroys my friend's cement bungalow. Next, my front door caves in, and then water is coming up the stairs.

This was the last point my brain worked for a long time.

I try and throw a mattress out the window to float on, but the water is rising too fast. Out the window I climb. It's all going so fast: It's faster than conscious thought, and by the time I am on our second-story roof, the water is coming out the window. i jump.

Did I jump too early? I scream Betty's name, but the crashing, roiling water mutes me.

I can't hear anything. I scream and scream until I get hit by something and pulled under. I pull myself through trash and wood to the surface and off I go.

Ahead are trees wrapped in flotsam, and as I look, a man is struggling to get free of it. As I pass by at thirty miles per hour, I realize he is impaled on a piece of wood and can't even scream.

Something triggers and I swim. I swim to avoid the trees that will trap me. It seems that I am atop the crest of the tsunami, which is less like a wave than a flood.

From on high, I can see the water hit buildings, then rise, then watch the buildings collapse into piles of concrete. I swim to avoid these. I can hear lots of bombs dropping in the distance.

Left and right I paddle, looking ahead the whole time, trying to figure the hazards.

I was busy seeing the weird things, like massive diesel trucks being rolled end over end. Or the car launched through the second-story wall of a former luggage shop. Or the person high up in a standing tree in a lurid orange thong. Or the older foreigner who got stuck in the wood and steel wrapped around a tree, and then his body torn off while his head remained.

I shut my eyes to block the images out, but squinted them open to try and swim to land, or any standing building. The closest was an partment building. I swam to it and climbed onto the roof, drawing a map in my mind.

The military must be dropping those nuclear bombs. Those must be the weapons they were talking about. Perhaps the countries we're fighting got a hold of the formula and they started dropping bombs on America! That must be it!

That's when the visions came again. Blurry and confusing though, and I could hear several whispers that were too hard to make out. Visions of lonliness, sorrow,and a large hollow feeling. I could distantly hear Betty calling my name, but it was the crown. I ran towards her, but she dissapeard into snowflakes, carried away by the wind.

"B-Betty? No! Come back Betty!" I cried.

When the visions stopped, I woke up in a city's ruins. There were still burning buildings and broken things were everywhere. I stood up, dusting myself off. My clothes were dry, everything physically intact, though I did have numerous fleshwounds.

I walked on forward, looking for anything. Nothing seemed to be left. This town must have been hit by a bomb. I paused, listening for someone, anyone anything. . What was that noise? A survivor? Someone in distress?

I walked, but quickly gained speed as I saw them. By now I was running through the wreckage of the town,.

She was a little girl, about four or five, wearing a red dress under tattered overalls. "Shhh, don't cry," I tried to reassure her, but she continued. I couldn't blame her, she had probably just faced a trauma.

Looking for something to comfort her, I turned to face an old toyshop in ruins. I stepped over the wreckage, picking out a toy that seemed the least destroyed. I was a pink bear with button eyes and long limbs. I gave it to her, and she looked at me with grattitude, taking the bear and hugging it.

"Now, why don't you tell me your name?" I asked.

"Marceline." she replied.


	3. Demise Returns

**Simon's Wonder Chapter 3**

**(Listen to an emotional song while you read to make this chapter more bearable.)**

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Marceline. What a lovely name.

I smiled. "Are you hungry?" I asked, taking off my backpack. I had to have _some _sort of food in there.

Marcy nodded. "Do you have anything red?"

What an odd question. I dug through the bag, pushing aside various objects. Sewing kit, a small blanket, pencils and paper, pink marshmellows... aha! There was an apple. I brung it out, handing it to the little girl. She bit it, then sucked the color right out of it! My eyes were wide in surprise. Perhaps I wasn't the only wierd person in the world... or what was left of it.

She patted her belly. "Very filling. Thanks Mister!"

"Simon. You can call me Simon." I replied.

She hugged the bear again. "I think I'll call you Hambo." she said in delight. I nodded in approval, watching the sky. "We'd better find somewhere to sleep."

I couldn't remember the feeling of warmth. Actually, I couldn't remember a lot of things. Where I lived, how I met Betty, those little things I thought I would always remember. Chunks of my life have been forgotten. I'm slipping away... but this little girl needs me, and I'll try to hold on as long as possible.

She skipped over to the remains of a building. It was a horrible place to be, even I could build a house better than that with no expirience. The windows were shattered,explaining that it was where she slept last night. She sat on a piece of rubble, letting out a childish sigh.

"Thanks for giving me Hambo." she said, hugging the toy. What a delight! Sometimes I wish that I had my own little girl or boy, one to love forever. I realize now that everything I thought as little gestures in my old life, were big things I took for granted.

"You look cold. Do you want a blanket?" she asked.

I smiled, wishing that would help. "No, I think I'm good." I said.

"Let's be friends! I've never had a friend before." she said.

I beamed. "Want to help me get wood? I want to build a... less dreary home. It could be our clubhouse!"

She giggled, skipping into the forest. I followed. It didn't seem to hard, pieces of wood were scattered all over the forest anyways. That's when it happened. I could feel the visions trying to fight through the firewall in my brain, it was painful. I grabbed the sides of my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

"**Get out of my head!**" I yelled, shouting and trying to fight them off. I could hear ringing in my ears, and piercing pains in my brain.

Marcy ran up, just as the visions subsided. "Simon!" she gasped.

"I'm alright." I lied, trying not to worry her.

"Really?"

"Y-Yes." I picked up some wood, as did she, and we headed back to the tent.

When we arrived, she put down the wood, then gasped in terror.

"Oh no Hambo! Your eye!" She cried, running over to the bear. The left button eye had fallen off, and cotton was starting to seep out. I opened my backpack, looking for something to fix it with. Hambo made her feel better in the wreckage, I'd hate to have it broken. At last I found thread and a needle. I could make this into a game! I set it beside me.

"Docter, we need to perform surgery on this patient!" I said in a girly voice, imitating that of a nurse.

She giggled, picking up the thread. "Needle!" she ordered, and I handed her the tool.

She concentrated deeply, guiding the needle through the button loops. "I'm hurting you because I love you." She said to Hambo.

At last she finished, admiring her work. It was a sloppy job, but she was young. I always admired children. It truly perplexed me to see how their minds worked. This made me miss Betty even more... It's all the crown's fault.

I started to put the sticks up and tie them together, creating a secure shelter. I draped my tarp over top, and set the blanket down on the inside. There, a nice place to sleep.

Marceline got up. "Let's go exploring!" she suggested, and without a reply, bounded happily off to find an adventure.

I followed, smiling, and watched her pick up an old camera. "Cool!" she commented, examining it. "What is it?"

"It's a camera." I said, and she handed it to me. "See you push this-" she giggled, and I snapped a picture of her. It immediately printed out, and I showed it to her. She looked in awe. "You get a picture." I finished my sentence.

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After a few hours of exploring, we went back to the tent. After all, the sun would be coming up soon... and I'd recently realized she was a vampire. Any exposure to the sun could leave her injured, scarred, or even killed.

Marceline fell almost instantly asleep, and I covered her with a blanket. I sat up, smiling and watching her sleep. How adorable. I slowly took the picture out of his pocket, along with the pencils out of my backpack.

On the back of the picture I wrote,

_Marceline,_

_Is it just you_

_& me in the wreckage_

_of the world?_

_That must be so _

_confusing for a_

_little girl._

_And I know you're going to need_

_me here with you._

_but I'm losing myself &_

_I'm afraid you're going to_

_lose me too._

I stopped, letting a single tear roll dwn my cheek. It was horrifying, really. What if forgot everyone... Betty, Marceline... what if I hurt Marcy? The thought is unbearable, but... I'm turning into some kind of monster. The magic... the magic of the crown... it's keeping me alive. I'm going crazy! I don't have complete control over my own body anymore... it's gone. Tomorrow, me and Marcy will head out of this wretched town. It's giving me the creeps.


	4. Is It Hopeless?

**Simon's Wonder Chapter 5**

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"Up and at 'em, Marcy!" I said, gently shaking the girl from her slumber. She yawned and stretched. "Is it night-time already?"

I nodded, helping her up.

I felt the pains in my head again, they come often now, without notice. I see the visions. The whispers come again, revealing things.

_You think you know_

_you know the snow_

_the ice is thin_

_nowhere to go_

_follow me_

_and you shall see_

_the frost's your guide_

_through misery_

I try to ignore it, but it just seems to enticing. The visions tell me things. I see a huge, solid ice door. How extraordinairy! I open it with great effort, but the visions stop. I see Marcy, her face is red, and her eyes are puffy.

"I don't know what came over me!" I protests. She just glares at the crown.

"Right," she replies, hard. "Can we just get back to what we were doing?"

She looked outside the tent. "I'm scared to leave this town... It's the closest thing to a home I've got, Simon." she said.

"Take short steps, deep breaths, everything is alright. Chin up."

"I can't, I'm afraid." She said. "I'm sad"

Somehow, without any words, I just stood there searching for an answer.

"Since this world is no more and the moon's all we see, I'll ask you to come away with me. Hold my hand, If you're with me then everything's alright until the stars all fall down from the sky." I said, smiling.

She held my hand, stepping out of the tent.

"I'm ready." she said.

We started walking through the rubble of the town. Cars are destroyed and their wreckage lines the streets. Storefronts have been broken into; their windows smashed and glass littering the streets. Streetlamps lean against buildings and, in some cases, have fallen down entirely. She has to step around them and keep walking, even if she has no idea where she's going. She just has to keep walking.

"How old are you, Marceline?"

She shrugs. Time has no real meaning here and it stopped having meaning long before The Mushroom War. Speech, likewise, has little meaning to her. She's been alone for far too long.

Rather than speak, she sings softly. It's a song she made up, since she likes singing. It makes her feel less alone and helps her figure out problems to which she'd ordinarily have no answers. She reasons singing must have been important to someone she can no longer remember.

"What's that you're singing?" I ask, interrupting her.

"It's a song I wrote," she announces.

"Can I hear the rest? You're quite good."

Perhaps I'm being too complimentary or, perhaps, like her, I am desperate to hold onto any kind of attachment in this world.

_"The winds used to blow_

_There used to be people here long ago_

_Before the screaming and bombs flew through the air_

_There used to be people standing there_

_Sometimes if I close my eyes and think hard enough, maybe_

_There's someone else who's still here, free_

_Someone who's waiting for me_

_Someone just for me."_

**_Marceline's point of_ view**

I remember the first time he hit me. Under the influence of the crown, his temper had mounted and he'd said some ugly things. The words and his sudden change in demeanor frighten me a lot more than the slap. Somehow, the violence pales in comparison. I don't know this man who wears the crown, because he isn't Simon Petrikov. The man who wears the crown is not my friend.

The man who wears the crown doesn't know Simon either. With or without the crown, his skin has acquired a blue tinge she has grown to associate the crown with bad things. The crown is a loss of control, an inability to regain himself. And even as he apologizes for hurting me, I withdraw. Simon isn't himself. I wait until he is.

We've been walking for a long time. My feet ache and my legs shake when I stop. It's cold, colder than it's ever been, and I can't see the sky. Ash blankets everything and crunches underfoot. When we walks, we leaves trails through it.

"It's c-cold." I say, shivering. He immediately flickers into concern.

"Oh dear, I'm awfully sorry, Marcy! I guess I'm just tooo used to it." He says, handing me a thicker jacket to put over my sweater. I put it on, and we sit down by a destroyed bank for a break. He gets out an apple for me, and one for himself. Sometimes I wonder when daddy will come. I don't remember him well, but unitl I find him, Simon will be my daddy-person.

I finish my apple, as does he, and we begin walking again. I being to wonder if we'll ever get to a place that isn't wrecked.

"Lovely view," he comments. "You have the destroyed corner store over there, and what used to be a school a mile away…oh, and the mall down there looks very nice."

I roll my eyes and we walk together quietly for a while. I plays with Hambo's arms and legs, twisting and manipulating them so that they look like they're moving. Simon says we'll reach the place soon, but I'm not too sure. He turns into a forest, and I follow him. I don't know where he's going, but I don't think he knows either. Sometimes it's alright to wander directionlessly.

It's not that cold anymore. I don't see any more snow, anyways. But there's snow up ahead, and I guess that's where Simon's goin. He loves the ice and snow.

* * *

We had to climb a mountain. I don't know if he's gone completely insane yet, but maybe he hasn't. We got to a cave, and he said it would be our ice fortress. It sounds like fun!


	5. Forgetting

**Simon's Wonder Chapter 5**

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Simon doesn't always remember everything. There are times when he forgets who I am, or Betty. There are times when he wonders how he got here. He never quite remembers the bombs the way he used to or the air raid sirens. He thinks he lived in Europe, but then he thinks he lived elsewhere. Then he wonders what Europe is, because it doesn't exist anymore.

Before he found the crown, everything was so clear. Now the lines are blurring and it's hard to follow his thoughts. They meander, taking one track and then another. Sometimes, he doesn't know what he was thinking about in the first place because it's completely gone. With or without the crown, things aren't the same as they used to be.

He still gets the visions, regardless of whether he's wearing the crown or not. Originally, he saw visions of what would happen to the world and it had entranced him. Then he realized these visions weren't just their world, but other worlds. The crown held the link to other times, other worlds, and other powers. It has changed him and he gets giddy with the power it brings him.

The power shouldn't excite him. It shouldn't drive out everything else. He shouldn't let it. But I know he can feel himself growing colder. He can feel internal changes and wishes he had the time to study them all. But then he remembers he wouldn't know what to do if he could, because the meticulous notes he used to take are gone. The notepaper is gone too. That was a world ago.

we're in his ice fortress, which is part of the beginning new Land of Ooo. The few humans who are left are helping rebuild the world, but they are dying out. I think that perhaps in a thousand years, there will be no humans left. Simon, in my mind, no longer qualifies as completely human.

I hug Hambo once a

gain. I don't know if Simon will forget me again, but I hope he doesn't. I like him, he's my friend. I catch him staring at his crown.

"Simon...?" I say.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Marcy. You know how I can go off into my own world sometimes." He replies. Don't I know it.

I think I'm older now, because I'm smarter and I'm getting bigger. Simon says one day I'll be as big as him, but I don't think so. Distantly, I think I hear penguins. Near the ice fortress, there are always penguins.

"You're always so cheerful, aren't you?" he comments.

"Always," I respond. I traces a circle idly on his comforter. "You think the world will ever really recover?"

"I dunno. Maybe it'll be bigger. Better," he says and then smiles excitedly. "Maybe all sorts of new things will be possible that we didn't know before."

"Or maybe everything will be worse." I comment.

"What's worse than a flaming apocalypse?" he inquires, genuinely curious. He's so good at derailing me that it takes me a moment to figure out what I had lined up to say. Blinking, I sit up and hugs myself. I can see my breath.

"You tell me."

Simon casts a sidelong look at the crown on the bed. It sits there like an accusation and I unconsciously slide away from it. Simon doesn't appear to notice—his gaze is rooted to the crown. He strokes the jewels on it and sighs, but his thoughts are invisible to me.

I think about it all the time, how eventually I need to leave him. I mean, what's the point of staying with someone who does't even know you half the time? I think I'll stay with him for now, but I'm starting to get frustrated. Sometimes I wonder if he even learns his lessons about putting on the crown. He seems less violet when he's not wearing it, but when he puts it on, It's like Simon leaves the room.

He's going crazy, and nobody can deny that. I just hope that when Simon leaves and the king of ice comes, that nobody will hurt him. He may be a different person, but there's still that trace of Simon calling out to him sometimes. Sometimes it's so small I don't notice, but sometimes it isn't.

Like yesterday, he was about to hit me, but pulled back. He looked in pain. The crown fell off, and he collapsed to the ground. I think that was Simon telling the ice king not to hit me.

* * *

There comes a time when I know I must leave him. It has been building for a while. I have to leave him for both our sakes, because looking at him is too painful. It has nothing to do with the occasional violence and outbursts and everything to do with the man I used to care about. Simon is now the Ice King, in fact if not in truth, and there is nothing of my friend to look for. Everything Simon used to be has gone into the Ice King and if I wants to ask the Ice King about the Mushroom Wars, he has no idea what I'm talking about.

Nor does he seem to remember me for very long. He remembers certain things about me, but not everything. The pieces are out of alignment. Try as I might, all the kings' horses and all the kings' men can't put Simon Petrikov together again. And I have no idea how to fix him.

He hasn't changed. No matter how bad the arguments get with the Ice King and how he insists he has, I know he hasn't. The darkness and the bitterness have grown in his soul. Still, there is light in the dark. I'm not sure Simon can ever find his way back to the light. The thought wounds me terribly.

So I have to leave. I have to move my home so he can't find me and maybe then, I'll have some measure of peace. I'll never be able to reclaim the world before the Mushroom Wars, nor will I be able to recover what I've lost. Now it's a matter of attempting to move on before things fall apart.

"Why are you going?" he asks, like a petulant child. His skin has shifted to blue and he has taken to wearing a robe.

"I have to go," I says, rolling her hand. I'm nearly a teenager now. Time has passed, far more than a few years, because my species takes forever to age. Eventually, I know that I'll stop aging and plateau out. I don't know when that is, but I don't know how much I care, either.

"Where?" he demands.

"Out," I remark vaguely.

"Oh," he says and accepts this at face value. "Bring me back something."

"This isn't like that," I say.

"Like what?" he answers. His smile has begun to fade and though he doesn't understand my meaning anymore, I can tell its implications have struck him. I look for a sign of Simon in his eyes and don't see it. My heart aches.

"Never mind," I snap. "I'm leaving. Bye, Simon."

"Simon?" he repeats. "Who's 'Simon'?"

I growl, frustrated and upset simultaneously, and storm out. It isn't the exit I wanted, but I feels trapped. Folding my arms across my chest with my belongings on my back, I hunt out a new spot. Maybe if I can bury myself deep enough, he won't find me. Maybe the past will die.


	6. I Remember You

**Simon's Wonder Chapter 6**

**The Finale! This is what I hope will be the last chapter. Perhaps, if my muse goes up a little, I'll write a continuiation, but I'm not too sure.**

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_**Simon/Ice King's point of view**_

_This road never looked so lonely._

I like my fortress. For one thing, it's all the way up top and someone would have to fly or climb really high to get me. It makes me feel secure and on the top of the world. (There's something off about that, because he knows the heights are associated with something else, but he's stopped reaching for those memories. His mind is a maze and he doesn't have the time or inclination to go after information)

Besides, this is much cozier. With Gunther and the other penguins, I can relax and kick back. Everything lives forever here. I no longer have to worry about dying or about anyone I care about dying. I don't remember who I used to care about, though... It's all a blur.

I only vaguely remember Marceline and I don't know why I remember her at all. There's also an electronic being in my mind named BMO, but I have no idea why he might be important either. And I have wasted too much time trying to overthink things. That's not who I am. I'm not a thinker. I don't want to study or think about anything.

I could plot and plan, but where would that take me? No, it's far easier to rule in comfort. Rule over what? Well, the penguins. The penguins always need a leader.

"That's too far to the right," I complain to Gunther. "Move it the other way."

The penguin obliges, shifting a table bigger than him back and forth on the ice. He finally places it down, at my discretion, exactly where it was before.

"Perfect," I announce. "Why don't we have a party?"

Gunther comments something to the tune of "you don't have any friends."

"What about that Marceline girl? Something about her seems so familiar…" I trail off, thinking to myself. "Maybe she can be the new singer in my band!"

There's something else about her, but I don't want to reach for it. Reaching for it is like trying to remember who Simon is. I scratch my scalp. What was I thinking about, anyway?

* * *

_**Marceline's point of view**_

I try to find peace in my new house, hoping the Ice King will forget about me, but he just comes and bugs me again. He's lost. Sometimes I think he only bugs me because he just remembers me, not who I actually was or how we met or that we were friends. I don't like to dig into those memories though, they're painful. But sometimes they come anyways.

_This house doesn't burn down slowly_

_To ashes, to ashes_

I remember the first time he barged in on my new house and asked me, of all things, to sing in his band as a backup singer. Part of me was offended at being asked to be a 'backup singer' and the rest was miserable he didn't remember me for anything more than my voice. Yes, I'd sung for him plenty of times in our time together, but that wasn't it. And when I hinted at anything more, he didn't understand. There was a blankness in his gaze that hadn't been there before.

_"You're a lost old one,"_ I sing in a whisper to myself. _"Aren't you, Simon?"_

He ends up being tangled in the chords when he tries to take his instruments out, and I just watch. He explains that he wants to show me what he wrote.

"Oh-ah! Oh no, Ice King's in trouble." Ice King said, falling over and trying to wriggle out of the chords. "Hey, ya know what, I'll just hum it for ya!"

He proceeds to hum some sort of melody. That's when the heroes come in. They've been here for a while, and have already obtained the Enchiridion. It's Finn and Jake.

"Ice King!" Finn and Jake barged in. "Wha-?" Finn said, confused.

"Oh. You've got him." says Jake.

"...Nice job, Marceline." Finn says, still surprised.

Jake walks over to Ice King. "Your constant harassment of the female gender makes me sick!" he says. He and Finn pick up the Ice King, and start walking out the door.

"N-Nah, it's alright. We're working on a song together." I say, somewhat with regret and self-pity.

"Whaaaat? You don't want us to-" Finn punches his hand. "-for you?"

"No, it's okay you guys can go." I say.

"Okay... well I guess we'll see ya then... Bye...?" Finn says.

After they leave, I start playing music.

"Yeah! Just liek that, keep doin' that!" he says.

To my demise, he startes singing about princesses, and starts to sob about how he's all alone. He sings about it, which makes me pity him more than I already do. I hate when he does this. Does he even remember Betty? Maybe the reason he's been going after all these princesses, is because Betty was his princess, and in his subconscious mind he feels the need to find his princess.

"Stop acting like this! Stop acting crazy!" I yell, and he pushes me.

"Oops! Sorry I pushed you. I'll get out of your way. Again, sorry I pushed you." he says, crawling onto my fridge.

I sigh, sitting in front of it.

"You're so annoying, you pitiful old man.

I'd like to help you, but I don't know if I can.

I thought you were nice, but you're really really really not!

Every time I move eventually you find me

and start hanging around

Just another lame exuse to see me.

Man, it's getting me down!

You know, I'm actually glad... to see you.

Maybe I'm the one who's... nuts.." I sing.

"Wait a minute! You... you like me?" he asks. I nod, and we hug. He still doesn't remember, because he tried to kiss me.

"Ugh! Gross! Not like _that! _You don't even know who _you _are!"

"Yes I do! I'm a lyricist! It's all in the pages!" he laughs hysterically, tossing up paper. I catch one. It's a newspaper article with a picture of Simon. "Look! This is you, _Simon_!"

"What-mon?"

I dig through the paper. I find that picture, the picture that Simon took of me when I found that old camera. "This! You took this picture!" I said, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Augh, you've scribbled all over it!" I read the back. "Huh?"

_Marceline,_

_is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world...?_

_That must be so confusing for a little girl..._

_And I know you're going to need me here with you..._

_But I'm losing myself, and I'm afraid you're gonna lose me too..._

"Ooh! Ooh! Are they good lyrics? I'll get hte keyboard!" he says, runnign into the living room. He starts playing.

"What? Wait! _Listen_!"

"Yeah, let's go, what's it say? Sing out, sister!"

I hesitate, but I haven't sung in ages. It brang back painful memories. I take a deep breath, recalling what Simon said to me when I was afraid to leave my hometown.

"Marceline,

is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world...?

That must be so confusing for a little girl...

And I know you're going to need me here with you...

But I'm losing myself, and I'm afraid you're gonna lose me too..." I sing, reading the messages he wrote. How come I hadn't seen them unitl now?

"Ooh! Yeah keep it going!" he says in encouragement.

"Oh! Uhm..." I dig through the papers, finding another message.

"This magic keeps me alive,

But it's making me crazy,

And I need to save you,

But who's going to save me?

Pleasde forgive me for whatever I do,

when I don't remember you..." I sing, sadness starting to stir.

"Wow! I wrote that? Hot stuff!"

"What! You don't remember what it means?" I dig up another picture. "Look!" I said, a tear rolling down my cheek.

He read the paper, singing out as he read.

"Marceline, I can feel myself slipping away,

I can't remember what it made me say,

But I remember that I saw you frown,

I swear it wasn't me,

it was the crown!" he looked, his eyes wide.

I sang with him.

"This magic keeps me alive,

But it's making me crazy,

And I need to save you,

But who's going to save me?

Please forgive me for whatever I do...

when I don't remember you...

Please forgive me for whatever I do...

When I don't remember you..."

After the song was over, I put away my guitar and stared at him. He stared back, confused. He never quite understood what I wanted to say anymore. Before, he'd always known what I was going to say or think. That was before the crown took full hold, though I thought that I never knew him before the crown. Perhaps he'd actually been a decent human being, through and through, before the crown had stolen him away.

The thought brought tears to my eyes and I had to turn my head to wipe them away.

"I'm not that bad!" he said defensively. Then, jumping to the next topic, "When can we jam again? I need to work on my approach to the ladies."

"I don't know," I replied. My voice was harsh, choked as it was with the suppression of tears. "Let me think about it."

"Don't move again!" he warned. "You crazy singers, always moving and changing."

"And you never move or change?" I answered dryly.

"I've never changed!" he retaliated. "I'm the Ice King through and through!"

I had to press the heel of my palm against my eyes to keep from crying. Instead, I nodded and waved him out. As usual, it took several attempts to get him to leave before he finally got the hint. Once he was gone, I sunk to the floor and hugged my knees. I didn't know if I could meet him again, if I was strong enough to deal with it.

It was funny to think that a vampire wouldn't be strong enough to deal with things. A thousand-year old girl didn't have control over her emotions. Then again, if I'd had control, I wouldn't have lost my closeness to Princess Bubblegum. The thought made me want to tear out my hair.

"You've never changed, huh, Simon?" I asked myself. The tears streaked my cheeks, despite my best efforts to suppress them. "Why don't I believe that?"

_I'm just the same as I was_

_Now don't you understand_

_That I'm never changing who I am._


End file.
